Reversed Roles
by SFogh
Summary: What happens when Zoe has to walk a mile in Wade's shoes?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I haven't forgotten about my other stories but I had to write this one after some of the new spoilers and descriptions came out. They pissed me off to be frank. This is going to be a two- or threeshot. I hope you enjoy and don't forget to review!**

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Corn and wheat fields flew by as the red Mustang muscle car tore through the landscape of Southern Alabama. The sun, almost at the peak of its path across the blue sky, was quickly drying the earth from the rain the day before. The heat haze in the horizon proof that, in Alabama, nothing stayed wet or cold for long. Well, except for the cold words from one petite doe eyed doctor in a town now many miles away. Those were stored in a place the sun's scorching rays couldn't reach, couldn't thaw; inside the heart of the blond, plaid-wearing driver.

With one arm resting on the frame of the open window, he changed gears and sped up. Swirling dust engulfed the car as he, seemingly aimless, drove through one small town after the other. He didn't care if his reckless driving caused damage to his beloved car or if he eventually would spend a night in jail. That just meant he had a place to stay for the night.

The few hundred bucks in his wallet were all the money he had. They were all he had time to grab from the register of his business before he took his car, made a quick stop at his house, grabbing his guitar, fishing gear, some clothes and headed out of town. It wasn't a well-thought out plan by any means, but at the time, he wasn't really thinking. He was reacting. Reacting to the events in the 36 hours leading up to that moment. The moment he realized that it had all been a lie. He had been living a lie for so long.

The words spoken, the actions taken, flashed before his eyes and he clenched the steering wheel hard with both hands before stepping on the brake. The car came to a screeching halt and he let out a frustrated groan. The people on a bench nearby watched with curiosity as the stranger inside the car let out his frustration by hitting the steering wheel repeatedly. They watched as he exited his vehicle, slammed the door shut and went into the bar across the street.

Wade let out an ironic laugh as he took a seat at the bar. Not long ago he left his own bar and hours of aimless driving later he found himself back in one similar to his own. _Life was just one big circle with a lot of small ones in between birth and death_. He snorted and looked at his reflection in the mirror behind the bar. He was covered in dust and literally looked like he had been working in a field all day.

"Hey stranger, what can I get ya," a female voice said. He looked in the direction of the voice and saw a familiar face smiling and chewing gum.

"Shelley! What are you doing here in…" Wade looked around perplexed. He couldn't recognize the bar and he had been in plenty. He realized that he really had no clue where he was.

"Boykin," Shelley chimed in. "I just kinda ended up here after I left BlueBell."

"Yeah me too." He looked as beaten as he felt. "Fetch me a beer, will ya."

"Coming right up."

Shelley had known Wade long enough to know something was clearly bothering him. Her friends in BlueBell had kept her up to date since she left, but they hadn't told her anything that would make Wade Kinsella walk into her place of employment looking like something the cat dragged in. She also knew he probably wouldn't share, but after watching him for a few minutes, her curiosity got the better of her. "Trouble in paradise?" She asked and leaned on the counter. Wade sighed.

"No offense Shelley, but I'd really rather not get into it." He took a swig of his beer and looked around the establishment. The bar was about the same size as his own; the clientele clearly locals.

"Zoe," she said knowingly. Wade quickly turned his head at her and gaped. "Just because I don't live in BlueBell anymore doesn't mean I don't hear the gossip."

"So you know about..."

"The cheating…" she interrupted. "…I still can't believe you were that stupid Wade!" She shook her head.

Okay good, she hadn't heard the latest, he thought, and he wasn't really in the sharing mood. When was he ever?

"Is that why you are here? Taking a break from the judging looks?"

"Sumthin' like that," he said, looking down, avoiding the question.

Shelley noticed and decided not to dig any further. "I heard you bought the Rammer Jammer. With Lemon of all people." She chuckled. "You sure she can handle everythin' with you gone?" She left to service an elderly man at the other end of the bar.

That's when it dawned on Wade. He really hadn't thought this through at all. With two fingers he dug out his phone from his right front pocket. After an incident with a disgruntled customer and an angry Wally, he always had it on silent mode when he was bartending. He had been bartending this morning and he had been too preoccupied by getting the hell out of there that his phone's call mode was the last thing on his mind.

Seventeen missed calls, most of them from Lemon, probably wondering where he was and why there were only small bills in the register. A few from Lavon, one from George, but none from Zoe. _Of course_, why would Zoe Hart of all people care where he was? The only person Zoe Hart cared about was Zoe Hart. And then _him._ It had always been him. Why had he called? To gloat?

Focusing his thoughts on Lemon once again, he began texting her. A phone call wasn't an option. He couldn't deal with a yelling Lemon right now. He knew he'd have to face the music when he returned, but right now, he had no clue when that was. All he knew was that he couldn't be in BlueBell right now.

_Hey Lemon. Went fishing. Took the money for bait and beers. Sorry I didn't tell you. You can yell at me when I get home. Reception is crazy bad here so you probably can't reach me. Tell Lavon for me will ya. Thx. _

He pressed send and turned the phone off. It wasn't exactly a lie but it wasn't the truth either. He did plan on doing some fishing, but he felt bad for leaving her to manage the bar on her own. He knew what he was doing was selfish, but dammit, he didn't care right now. All he cared about was to forget the last two days, heck the last two years.

"Is there a cheap motel or a campin' spot I can park my car in 'round here?" He showed his thin wallet to Shelley, who'd replaced his empty beer with a full one. "Kinda left in a hurry." He shrugged.

She studied him for a moment, pondering if should ask why. She decided against it. "You could stay with me."

He looked inquiringly. "You realize I have almost no money, so I can't pay you much."

"That's okay," she smiled. "There are other ways you can pay me." She winked and laughed.

"Shelley," he sighed heavily. He wasn't in the mood for games.

"I'm kidding, sorta. I could use your bartending skills. My boss is on vacation and left me in charge." Wade raised an eyebrow. "Hey, you're not the only one that knows how to run a bar!" She slapped his arm. "But it ain't no picnic handlin' this place on my own, so if you want, you could help me during peak hours, and I'll let you sleep on my couch."

He thought about it for a second. He could use the distraction and while he loved to fish, the many quiet hours alone on a lake would mean more time to think about everything and that wouldn't lead to anything good.

"It's a deal. When do I start?"

"Well, how about tomorrow? You ain't in any shape to be servicin' anyone today. Let me you get my spare key."

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After a long shower and ingesting some leftovers from Shelley's fridge, Wade felt exhausted. He dropped onto the couch in Shelley's small apartment, closed his eyes and hoped the events of the previous days wouldn't haunt him in his sleep. He was wrong.

"_Hey doc," his voice soft and a small smile on his face as she came to the door of the carriage house._

"_What are you doing here_?_" she said annoyed, crossing her arms. Not a good sign he thought._

"_I brought a bottle of wine." He held it up for her to see. "I thought maybe we could continue where we left off yesterday." He smiled nervously as the rain continued to soak his red plaid shirt._

"_We had sex Wade. It didn't mean anything." _

_Did she really think he was just talking about sex? Perhaps last night was just sex, but he thought it meant more. She had come to him after all. "Maybe we could just hang out, talk."_

"_No! I don't want to talk. Go away." She was getting agitated._

"_So yesterday was just a mistake huh? Just a romp in the sack with a familiar body?_"_ He bit his lip, not sure if he wanted to hear the answer._

"_Something like that. Wade please leave me alone okay?" He_r_ voice a little softer now, almost pleading._

"_It didn't feel like a mistake to me. I know I hurt you Zoe, but I want to be with you. I'll do anything. I have been wantin' to come over every night to beg for forgiveness. I just didn't think I'd a chance but after last night I thought maybe..._"_ He paused._

"_Well, you thought wrong!" The anger back in her voice._

_He winced at her retort. "So you don't have feelin's for me anymore?" He felt physical__ly__ ill asking her. _

_She snapped. "No I don't! I never have! Now leave me alone!" She slammed the door leaving Wade frozen in the pouring rain._


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Thank you all for the reviews! I hope you enjoy this chapter.

I forgot a disclaimer in chapter one, but I don't own Hart of Dixie or any of the characters.

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Zoe glanced at the clock on her bed stand. 2:00 am. She sighed. She had been lying in bed for several hours thinking about her current messed up situation. She felt horrible. How did she always end up in these predicaments? Was there something wrong with her or was this just what life had planned for her?

It had all started last night when she, in a moment of weakness or at least that is what she told herself, ended up in Wade's bed. It felt so familiar and good. It definitely wasn't because it was bad sex that she had left after he fell asleep. Being with him like that again had brought her back to the days of their break up; back to her finding out that he'd been with another woman. She felt disgusted with herself, and left when she was positive he wouldn't notice. Not that she cared if he noticed.

She had convinced herself that it meant nothing. Ex's often hook up right? It was a lack of judgment on her part and she had sworn she would stop doing stupid things like that.

The next day, however, she messed up again. After feeling sorry for herself all day and after a couple of shots at Fancies, she found herself in front of George's houseboat telling him that she should have chosen him. That Wade was a mistake that shouldn't have happened, and that she still had feelings for George.

George had scolded her, telling her that he was happy with Tansy and she couldn't expect him to dump her just because Zoe suddenly decided that she wanted to be with him. He had also pointed out that she was clearly still in love with Wade.

That night she had been pacing the hardwood floors of her house. Was George right? Was everyone able to read her better than herself? In love? Did she love Wade? No, that couldn't be. She still had feelings for him, but love? It could be why she had been so hurt by his betrayal and why she had such a hard time moving on. The more she thought about it, the more confused and frustrated she got. And angry! Angry at George for planting the idea of her loving Wade in her head, angry at herself for listening to him and going to him in the first place, but most of all, angry at Wade for making her feel this way.

That is when she had heard the knock on the door and had seen Wade standing in the pouring rain with a bottle of wine. He had put himself out there and begged for forgiveness for the first time since the night on the bench. She had taken all her built up frustration and anger out on him and slammed the door in his face. She hadn't meant a word she said, but she had also been way too mad at him to care.

The many hours of pondering her situation had made her realize one thing. She needed to talk to Wade. To let him know that she hadn't meant it. She needed him to know that she had been happy with him. That she most definitely had feelings for him and still did. That she was just angry at him because those feelings prevented her from moving on, and as much as she wanted to, she still hadn't found a way to forgive him.

She contemplated going over there now, but he'd probably be a sleep. Also, he might be too angry to listen to her, so she decided to wait until the morning. Yes tomorrow was better. She would wake up early and make his favorite breakfast. On second thought maybe her cooking wasn't the best idea. She let out a small laugh. With the thoughts of what to say to him, she drifted to sleep.

The next morning Zoe woke up to her phone ringing. She glanced at the clock, 9:15 a.m. Dammit her first patients were at 9:00. She answered the phone and apologized to Brick, who that was scolding her for not showing up on time and leaving him to deal with the Tark twins.

She had also missed her opportunity to talk to Wade that morning; he would already be at work. She decided to corner him during lunch. That way he couldn't escape or make a scene, could he?

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She entered the Rammer Jammer around noon and noticed the looks on the townpeople's faces as they turned to stare at her. Did they know something? For sure Wade wouldn't have said anything. He usually just kept everything to himself. She looked around and saw a stressed Lemon carrying plates of food and Wanda standing behind the bar pouring beers for Cody and two other men. No sign of Wade. She approached Wanda.

"Wanda, have you seen Wade?"

"Hey Zoe. No, I have no clue where he is. Lemon drafted me fifteen minutes ago to help her with serving drinks. Perhaps you should ask her." Zoe huffed. Lemon wasn't her favorite person in the world and she knew Lemon would be suspicious as to why she wanted to talk to Wade. She really wanted to set the record straight, and the longer she waited, the more she feared Wade wouldn't believe her. She scolded herself for not going over to Wade's the minute she had calmed down the night before. She had to talk to Lemon, so she took a deep breath and tried to get her attention.

"Lemon do you have a sec..."

"I'm busy Doctor Hart. Can't you see that?!" Lemon exclaimed, before heading towards the kitchen to fetch more plates of food. Zoe decided the only way to get lemon to talk was if the line of food heading out was minimal, so she grabbed two plates and yelled into the room.

"Who ordered two club sandwiches with curly fries?" Lemon turned almost dropping her plates. "What are you doing?" she hissed. "Over here," two gentlemen yelled from the corner.

"Helping you", she said with a smile as she passed Lemon and headed towards the corner table. Lemon sighed and shook her head.

After assisting Lemon for ten minutes and noticing many glares from the customers that she couldn't decipher, she finally managed to get Lemon's attention as she was about to head out to get more _requests_ as she liked to say.

"Do you have a second now?"

Lemon sighed. "You have one minute! As you can see I have to do everythin' myself since Wade vanished an hour ago."

"So you don't know where he is? Have you tried calling him?"

"Yes of course I have. Do you think I'm stupid?" Zoe chose not to answer. "I assure you though, when I find him, I'm gonna ring his neck." She visualized her intentions.

"Yeah.. well.. I'll let you get back to work then and you're welcome." She motioned to leave.

"What?"

"I said you're welcome… for helping you out before."

"I wouldn't call getting two orders wrong and spillin' tea in the Reverend wife's lap helping. 'Sides I think you've done enough _helping_ in your lifetime."

Zoe looked at her confused. "What the hell do you mean?" A hint of annoyance in her voice.

Lemon snorted. "You know what I mean."

"No, I really don't."

Lemon rolled her eyes. "George and Tansy had a big fight in the town square earlier today." Zoe's eyes widened. "Somethin' about a certain doctor in way too short shorts confessin' her love and breaking up _yet_ another relationship because she thinks the world revolves around HER!" Lemon's voice grew louder and by now the whole bar was watching. Neither woman seemed to notice.

Zoe now realized what all the strange looks was about. "Wait, back up. What do you mean by _breaking up_?"

"I mean Tansy slapped George and headed out of town faster than you can ruin a town event."

Zoe ignored Lemon's jab at her. "Did Wade see it?" She asked nervously.

Lemon looked confused by the mention of Wade. "I don't know. I witnessed it from inside the Dixie Shop, but I am sure he heard about it."

Zoe suddenly felt a chill down her spine. "Oh my god, where is George now?"

"Oh no, Doctor Hart. You stay away from George Tucker. Haven't you done enough already?"

Zoe didn't pay attention "I need to go." She turned and headed for the exit.

"Go where?"

She turned her head back towards Lemon, but continued her path towards the exit. "To find George… and Wade. I think I know where he vanished to." She picked up her pace as she exited the bar.

"What.. Zoe?.. ZOE!" Lemon shouted, but Zoe was already long gone.

Zoe's mind was racing. Connecting the dots weren't hard, even for Zoe. Wade must have gone after George. There was no other explanation to why he'd left Lemon to fend for herself. She knew how it must have looked in his mind. Her _confession_ to George, her words to him in the rain, and George and Tansy breaking up. George wasn't to blame, she was, but Wade didn't know that. She had to find Wade and stop him before he did something he'd regret. Now where would George go? Would he go drinking or would he go home to sulk in privacy? She stood in the town square pondering, when she saw Sheriff Bill sitting in his car.

"Sheriff Bill!" She shouted and ran towards him with a frantic look on her face.

"Hey Zoe. Where's the fire?" He stepped out of his car and smiled, knowing Zoe's tendency for drama.

"This isn't the time for jokes!" she scolded. "It is a matter of life and death."

"So there's a medical emergency somewhere?" His smile replaced with a concerned look.

"Very likely." Zoe walked right past Bill, headed towards the passenger side of the police car and climbed in.

"Very likely?" Bill raised an eyebrow as he climbed back into the car.

"Just drive.. please."

Bill decided not to argue. He knew better. "So where are we headed?"

"George's houseboat." Zoe stated and the sheriff gaped. When she didn't offer any more explanation he sped off, sirens blazing.

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